Precista is a wristwatch brand that dates from about the late 1940s or beginning of the 1950s, probably starting out life under the proprietorship of Southern Watch & Clock Supplies Ltd., an English watch materials company based in Orpington, Kent, who used the Precista name on watches that they produced and sold wholesale under their own brand name.

Southerns' also sold Precista-branded clocks in addition to stopwatches and chronograph/timekeeper wristwatches. Some of these watches were for military use by the British armed forces. Precista watches were not manufactured by Southern Watch & Clock Supplies Ltd., although the firm probably had control of design specifications, also ensuring that Precista watches for the military complied with relevant specifications.

What’s On Offer 

A rare Precista 6BB British military pilot’s watch, powered by a quartz movement. Few of these were ever issued, making them highly collectable today. The full model number, 6BB/6645-99-5415317 followed by 29065/84, reveals its RAF origins — 6BB denotes an Air Force-issued watch, 6645 identifies it as a “Time Measuring Instrument”, and 99 is the UK country code. The /84 confirms this piece was issued in 1984.

This example is in excellent condition, featuring a crisp black dial with bold Arabic numerals, an outer minute track, and luminous hour plots that perfectly match the soft buttermilk tone of the original sword hands and triangle marker at 12 o’clock. The Precista and Quartz signatures remain sharp, as does the circled T, denoting tritium lume. A bright white needle seconds hand completes the dial, which sits beneath a shatterproof Plexiglas crystal and within a well-preserved stainless-steel case — a fine and faithful example of RAF military design at its best.

We acquired this watch directly from its original owner — a retired RAF pilot who shared that it had been tucked away in a drawer since 2004, the year he retired from active service after an impressive 42-year career. He began his journey as a radio technician in 1963, later joining air crew in 1970. This June, the watch received a full professional service, and he’s now ready for someone new to continue its legacy.

NB: We do have accompanying copies of photos from the original owner we can possibly share too should you so wish.